Training of a young boy
by jubdinia
Summary: Voldemort never found the Potters. Now Harry is four years old and Voldemort have decided that it is time for him to start his training so he can defeat Voldemort. Follow Harry as he grows up far away from home training for the final battle.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

 **Unwanted visitors**

Harry Potter lay in his bed trying to listen to the conversation going on downstairs in the living room. His parents had sent him to bed when Dumbledore had entered the house earlier this evening. However, Harry could not fall asleep. He knew they were talking about him, but he could not quite hear what they said. He was sure it had something to do with him and Voldemort. This scared him.

Even though his parent had tried to hide, the real reason behind the extreme protection he and his parents were living under, he had still figured out that someone wanted him dead. That someone was Voldemort.

He had never found out why he was number one on Voldemort's hit list, and he was not even sure he wanted to know the reason. He just wished he were not on it, so he could live his life in peace with his parents. Maybe they could go outside and to a park. He could play with the other children and make some friend. It was not fun being a prisoner in his own house.

Harry crawled out of bed and tiptoed over to the door before carefully opening it, so he could hear what the adults downstairs were saying.

"But he is only four years. He is way too young to fight," he heard his father say, probably to Dumbledore. His father sounded angry, so the conversation had to be about something serious. His father only got angry when things where very bad. Most of the time he was a laid back and easygoing man. If his father was angry, Harry knew he had reason to be worried.

"Please clam down James. He does not have to fight yet, but he can start training," Dumbledore said trying to comfort the distraught parents, so he could convince them that his actions were in everyone best interest. It would be easiest to take the boy if the parent cooperated. "I wish it could wait until Harry is older, but as we speak Voldemort's power over the wizarding world grows stronger. It really can't wait any longer." Dumbledore looked from James to Lily. None of them looked like they had more to say so he continued. "I will come back tomorrow to pick up the boy. I'm sorry but with the way the war is progressing, I'm afraid it could already be too late by the time he has completed his training."

Harry closed the door quickly and hurried back to his bed. His thoughts was swirling through his head. Was Dumbledore going to take him away tomorrow? He did not want to leave his family to go with a person he barely knew. Dumbledore had also mention something about training and fighting. What kind of training did he mean and did they really want him to fight? He was just a four-year-old boy. What could he possibly do?

All this uncertainty brought Harry to tears and he hugged his stuffed hippogriff tightly. It was with these thoughts that Harry finally fell asleep several hours later.

* * *

After Dumbledore had left, Lily and James sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of tea. They both sat lost in their own thoughts for a while before anyone said something.

"I feel horrible about sending him away," Lilly said with tears in her eyes. "He is only four. It should not be his responsibility."

"I don't want to send him away either," James said sounding lost. "But if Dumbledore is right about Harry being the only one who can defeat Voldemort there is not much else we can do."

"He is going to hate us for not protecting him." Lily could no longer hold her tears back and James took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"No I'm sure he will understand that we have no choice. If he really have to fight, it is better for him to be properly prepared. At least then, he will have a chance to survive."

"I still wish he didn't have to go."

"So would I."

* * *

Dumbledore sat in his office at Hogwarts with a selected group of members from the order of the phoenix. This where the people he intended to help him train Harry, and he had asked the all to meet him here today so they could talk about what to do. The last member had just arrived, and Dumbledore was trying to decide how to best approach the meeting.

"Welcome," he said and everyone in the room. "I have asked you all to come here tonight so we can talk about Harry Potter's training. As you all already know Voldemort's is growing stronger everyday". Dumbledore held a short break in his speech allowing the other people in the room to recover from their chock over the Headmaster use of the dark lord's name. "Tomorrow I'll go and pick Harry up. I want Mr. Kingsley and Mr. Longbottom to accompany me." He looked over at the two men to ensure that the understood and they both nodded. "When we have the boy we will bring him to a safe house."

"Are you absolutely sure this training can't wait until the boy is older?" asked Frank Longbottom concerned but secretary glad it was not his son who had to train. Still he felt sorry for James and Lily who was pretty much had to give their child away.

"I'm afraid it can't. Harry is the only one who can stop Voldemort. He needs to be prepared."

Harry woke up the next morning when his mother came in to his room. "Good morning sweetheart. Have you slept well?"

* * *

"Good morning mom. Yes, I have slept well." Harry sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes before putting on his glasses.

"That's good to hear," she answered and gave him a small smile, which Harry returned a little confused. He could see that his mother's smile was forced and sad. For a moment, he wondered why. Then he remembered the conversation between his parents and Dumbledore the night before. It took all his willpower not to break down crying right away.

According to what he had heard Dumbledore say yesterday, he would come over later today to pick him up and take him away. However, he could not let his parents know that he knew since he was not supposed to know yet. He did not want to get in trouble for sneaking out of bed and listening at the door. Especially not if it was there last day together for some time. He would just have to pretend he did not know anything about the conversation he had heard.

Harry got out of bed and put on his clothes while his mother opened the curtains from the window and made the bed. She had to help him put on the shirt, because he got it all tangled up. Harry was a little embarrassed over this. How could he possibly start his training away from his parents if he had this much trouble just getting dressed?

When Harry was properly dressed, he followed his mother down to the kitchen for breakfast. He sat down at the kitchen table, and his mother put a plate with food in front of him. Even though he had no apatite this morning, he forced himself to eat everything on his plate. He had to pretend he had no knowledge of what would happened later, and normally he eat his food without complaining.

His father was already sitting at the table, and was reading the Daily Prophet while eating his own breakfast. Neither parent said a word as they eat which was very unusual. Harry did not say anything either. He wished his parents would hurry up and tell him what he already knew a little about. He had so many questions, and every minute he got more and more anxious.

It was not until breakfast had ended that his father spoke. "Harry there is something we need to talk about." His father seemed nervous and sad. This had to be it. The conversation he had anticipated all morning.

"What is it daddy?" asked Harry as innocently as he could even though he knew what they was going to talk about.

"As you know Dumbledore came and visited us yesterday and he is very worried about the war. He wants you to begin your training as soon as possible." James spoke carefully trying not to frighten his son too much. It broke his heard to think about all the hardship his little son had to go though.

"What kind of training?" Harry asked. He did not have to fake his curiosity. This question had kept him awake last night.

"Dumbledore wants you to learn magic so you can help fight against Voldemort. He will come over to pick you up later today."

"But I don't want to go" Harry said as his eyes began to water. Even though he had overhead the conversation hearing his father say it, made it all so much more real and he was so scared. His mother pulled him into a hug and Harry started to sop into her shoulder clinging to her desperately, wishing he never had to let go again. His parents talked to him quietly in order to comfort him bit, but he did not really hear what they were saying.

He cried until he had no more tears left, and first then did he let go of his mother. "Everything will be all right sweetheart," his mother reassured his young son before drying his wet eyes.

Once Harry had calmed down again he and his mother went back to his room. They had to pack the things Harry would need when he left. The room was furnished with a small bed at one end and a shelf filled with all kind of toys and a few picture books at the other end. Beside the shelf, he had a closet containing all his clothes. He had a small writing desk and a chair by the window wherefrom one had a good view over the garden.

"Now I'll pack your clothes and then you can choose a few toys you want to bring," Lily said.

"Okay mom." Harry walked over to the shelf and started to go through all his stuff while his mother began to put cloth into a small trunk. Harry picked up a few toys but soon put the down again. None of them seemed to appeal to him today. He might regret it later but at the moment, he did not feel like bringing anything.

"Have you decided what to bring?" Lily asked her son as she finished packing the last cloth into the trunk.

"I'm not bringing anything," Harry said without looking at his mother.

"Are you sure?" his mother asked uncertain. "I really think you should bring something."

"Mom I'm going to start training now. That means I'm too old to play." Lily did not know what to respond to this. It broke her heart to watch her son like this.

"Well I say you have to bring at least one thing."

"Okay," Harry said walked over to his bed and grabbed his stuffed hippogriff. "I'll bring this," he said and handed it to his mother so she could put it in the trunk.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon before the family of three head a knock on the front door. Lilly looked at James and he went over to let the unwanted visitors in to the house. Harry looked up from the picture book he had been pretending to reading to see Dumbledore stepping into the house followed by two other men he did not know. He caught the eyes of one of the men and he quickly looked down at his book again. He knew it was rude to stare at people and he did not want to get in trouble for it.

James and Lily talked with Dumbledore for what seemed like forever. Harry could not hear what they said, but he hoped they were planning to cancel his training or at least delay for some time. However, he knew that was an unrealistic wish. He felt so lost. He did not want to go. Just thinking about it made him so sad he could cry. It also made him angry. Angry at Dumbledore, at his parent and at Voldemort and this stupid war. So many thoughts and emotions ran through his head. Before he knew it his parent, Dumbledore and the two people he still did not know stepped back into the room. Harry looked up at them, as they got closer to where he was sitting on the couch.

"Are you ready to go?" Dumbledore asked cheerfully as if taking children away from their parent was a normal occurrence. Harry looked from Dumbledore to his parents and back again. For a moment, he considered saying no and refusing to leave with them but he thought better of it. Everyone was relying on him so he could not let them all down now. Harry nodded slowly and got up from the couch. He picked up the small trunk he and his mother had packed for him earlier that day. He then followed Dumbledore and the strangers over to the door. Lily and James followed as well. One of the strangers left the house and Harry turned towards his parents to say goodbye.

"Take good care of yourself sweetheart. Mommy loves you so much," Lily said as she pulled her son in to a tight embrace. "We'll see each other again soon."

"Goodbye mom. I'll miss you," Harry said with a week voice that could fail any moment. His mother let go of him and he turned towards his farther.

"Everything will be all right son. Don't worry," James said trying to reassure himself, just as much as his son, he was about to send away.

"Goodbye dad," Harry said and James pulled him into a big hug.

"The coast is clear we can leave now." The stranger who had left a few minutes ago had returned. Obviously, he had been out checking whether it was safe to leave or not.

"That's good," Dumbledore said. "Come Harry. We have to leave now" Harry reluctantly let go of his father and walked over to Dumbledore. Dumbledore grabbed Harry's tiny hand and they walked out the door. Just outside the house, Dumbledore tightened his grip on Harry's hand and disapparated.

* * *

 **This concludes the first chapter of my new story. Please tell me what you think and if you have any questions, ideas or constructive criticism just let me know.**

 **I will try to update regularly and the next chapter can be expected the January 10, 2016 or January 11, 2016 depending on which time zone you live in.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

 **A new place**

They arrived in front of a big house. Harry quickly looked around to get an idea of the surrounding environment. The house had a big garden with flowers and plants growing wild. It looked like no one had tried to maintain it for a long time. Outside the garden, fields stretched out for a mile in every direction. In the horizon, he could see a forest on his right side, and on his left, he could see mountains.

"This is the safe house in which you will be living for the time being" Dumbledore said as they walked through the front door. "For safety reasons you won't be able to leave the house without an escort. Others will not be able to enter either without being invited either. You should be perfectly safe here."

They walked down a long dark corridor. Harry found it a little creepy. Portraits decorated the walls here and there and they looked curiously at the people while they gossiped with their neighbors. Harry followed the others through a door at the end of the corridor. He stepped into what looked like a living room. At the wall on the opposite side of the room, there was a big fireplace. In front of the fireplace, a selection of armchairs and couches were places around a coffee table. Two big windows covered most of the wall to the side, allowing the sun to light up the room. They all sat down on the couches and Dumbledore began to speak again.

"Since we haven't got much time, your training will start as soon as we are done talking here. Outside of the mandatory classes all children have to receive lessons in you will also be studying Dueling and war strategy. These subjects will be very crucial and will help you defeat Voldemort when the time comes. A lot is depending on you so I expect that you take your lessons seriously and work hard. However, before you can start on your real lessons I think you will have to learn some basic reading and writing skills. Do you have any questions?"

"No sir," answered Harry. He was a bit exited at the prospect of learning new things yet the enormous responsibility he had took some of the joy away.

"Okay. If you go with Mr. Kingsley here, he will take you to your first lesson. You can just leave your trunk here and it will be brought to your room."

Harry followed the man down the corridor and up a staircase to the second floor. Harry had to run a little to keep up with Kingsley. They went into a room furnished as a small classroom designed for just one student. There was a small desk for the student and another bigger desk for the teacher. A bookcase stood by the all beside the door. Kingsley directed Harry to sit down at the small desk.

"Your teacher should arrive shortly," Kingsley said before leaving Harry alone in the classroom. Harry looked after him as the door closed. Harry sat a minute waiting but he had nothing to do and got bored fast. Then he got out of the seat and ran towards the door when he tried to open it he found out that it was locked. He tried to pull harder but it did not help. Harry gave up on the door and started to explore the room.

There was a bookcase full of books on various sizes and colors but he could not read any of the titles. He took down a small on with a blue cover and opened it. It was nothing like the books he was used to read at home. Instead of being full of moving pictures, dense and small written text covered page after page. The only pictures in the book was a few static drawings. He quickly lost interest in the book and put it back on the shelf again.

Afterwards he moved to the front of the class where the teacher's desk stood. The desk ad four drawers; two on each side. He opened the first one and looked at its contents: quills and ink. Nothing that would entertain him for long. He closed the draw and moved on to the next. This one contained several roles of parchment. Harry did not find this interesting either. The last two draws where empty and he looked around the room one more time to see if there were more places, he could explore.

He then walked over to the window and looked out. From the window, he had a better view of a nearby forest he had seen as he entered the house. Harry had never seen a forest in real life and he sat a while and fantasized about what it would be like to walk between the tall trees. He wondered about how it would smell and what sound he would hear. He wondered what it would feel like to move his hand over a tree trunk. Would the bark be smoot like wooden furniture often were or would it be rough?

He heard footsteps coming closer and he hurried back to his seat. He had only just sat down as the door opened. He turned around in his seat to see who entered the room. A strict looking woman walked through the door and towards the teacher's desk. She was dressed in dark green robes and her hair was pulled back into a bun. Harry followed her every movement with his eyes as she made her way towards the teacher's desk. The woman made him feel a bit uneasy and he did not want to do anything that would make her angry.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter," the woman said in a no nonsense voice "My name is professor McGonagall and I will be teaching you the basics academics you will need before you can begin with the real training. There is not much time so let us get started. First I want to ask how far you are with your reading and writing skills."

"Well I know the alphabet and a few words ma'am." Harry answered a little uncertain. His parents had only just started to teach him a few weeks prior. Just thinking about his parent made Harry feel like someone stabbed him in the heart, and he quickly brought his focus back to the professor in front of him.

"That's a beginning. I have some books I would like you to practice reading." McGonagall said and levitated a small stack of books from the bookcase and over to Harry's table. "The books shouldn't be too hard for you to read." Harry carefully took the first book from the stack and looked at it. On the cover was a detailed drawing of a dragon and the title said: " _Dragons in our world._ " Harry opened the book and started reading.

At first it went very slowly as he had to spell his way through almost every word. He also had to ask for help on several occasions. After an hour though, he had made some progress with the book. It helped that the topic was one he found interesting. By the time professor McGonagall dismissed him for dinner, he had almost finished the book. She escorted Harry to a dining room where they eat their dinner in silence.

After diner, they returned to the classroom. Here McGonagall handed Harry a quill, some ink and a piece of parchment with some writing assignments.

"I want you to work on these writing exercises for the rest of the evening" She said and returned to her seat at the teacher's desk. Harry picked up the quill, dipped it in ink and looked down on the parchment.

The first assignment was to write a line with each letter. He began to write each letter carefully but soon lost interest because he found the task very dull. He finished the remaining lines as fast as he could and moved on to the next assignment. Here he had to write lines with words instead of letters. This was not much fun either. He was not used to focus on the same task for longer periods of time and he easily lost focus. He was also tied which did not help him concentrate yet he managed to force his focus back to the work he had been assigned.

The next assignment he had to write entire sentences repeatedly and Harry started to think that this was similar to some of the detentions he had heard his father and Sirius talk about. It was boring but also quit difficult to remember the right order of every letter in each word of the sentence. Halfway through the last assignment he the professor McGonagall said it was bedtime.

He left the room with the professor who took him to his room. Then she left and Harry was on his own again. He checked the door but it was locked. Not that he had expected anything else. He looked around the room. He found his trunk by the foot of the big four-poster bed. The room also contained a writing desk, a closet and some empty book shelfs. There was door on the other side of the room and when he opened it, he found out that it led into a bathroom. He closed the bathroom door again and walked over to a window. The sun was setting so it had to be quite late and Harry decided it was time to go to bed. He would probably have time to explore his room more another day.

He went over to the trunk, opened it, pulled out his pajamas and put it on. He then looked though his bag to find his stuffed hippogriff, which he had decided to bring after his mother had insisted that he took something whit him. Now he was glad he had it. He had never been able to sleep without it.

While he lay alone in the bed, he thought about his parents. He had only been away from them for a few hours and he already missed them so much that it hurt. He yearned for his mother to come and tuck him in. Everything here was so strange and scary. He wanted to go home but he knew he could not do so. The world needed him to do this so failing was not going to be an option. He hugged his stuffed hippogriff closely and cried himself to sleep.

* * *

Dumbledore sat alone in his office making a plan for all the things he had to do in the next few days. There were so many things that he did not know where to start. He had to try to keep Voldemort from doing too much damage until Harry was ready to face him.

He had to call a meeting with the order soon so they could talk about the latest raid the death eaters had committed. It had been quite bad, and many had died and since it, more people started to support Voldemort out of fear. Dumbledore had to prevent that from happening again. However, how to do that was a question for which he did not have an answer. Maybe someone at the meeting would have an idea.

This brought him back to Harrys training. It had been easy enough to pick the boy up earlier and he hoped the boy continued to cooperate. Anyway, he should probably make a plan to ensure that the boy continued to train just in case he started to lose motivation. He could not allow that to happen. Too much was at stake. He would also have to purchase some equipment for Harry so he could start learning magic. The problem was that he could not bring Harry to Diagon ally to buy a wand. With Voldemort after him, it would simply be too risky.

Dumbledore wrote everything down on a piece of parchment so he would not forget something. His memory was no longer as good as it had been when he was younger.

* * *

Lord Voldemort sat on his throne in the throne room of his mansion. He had just dismissed his Death eaters after yet another fruitless meeting. How hard could it be to find a baby? No not a baby but a four year old child. It had been four years since he had heard part of the prophecy that predicted his demise. In thoughts years, he had focused many recourses on finding and killing the child but still there were no progress on the matter. It was frustrating and his anger caused him to execute more violent raids on a regular basis. It was probably not the best way to gain power but it was the only way he could get an outlet for his anger. If it had not been for that blasted boy he would likely be ruling the wizarding world now, but he could not ignore the possible threat the boy possessed. He had to find him before he grew too strong.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

* * *

 **The training begins**

Harry woke up the next morning feeling disorientated and confused. Where was he? He did not recognize his surroundings. It took some time before he remembered where he was. He crawled out of bed and towards to door but it was still locked. All these locked doors was starting to make him uneasy. He felt like a prisoner.

He decided to spend some time exploring his room. He went over to the writing desk and opened the drawer. Just like the drawers in the classroom, it only contained writing utilities and parchment. The bookcase was still empty but he figured he would be given the books he needed. He had left the books from yesterday on his desk in the classroom. Harry went over and opened the closest but it was empty as well. He would probably have to fill it whit his own clothes later.

Suddenly he heard a loud bang and spun around to see what had made that noise. It was a little house elf had appeared in his room. It informed him that he needed to get dressed and be ready because he would soon be escorted to breakfast. After giving the message, the house elf disappeared again with another loud bang.

Harry hurriedly pulled on a pair of pants and a red t-shirt he found in his trunk. He was trying to tie his shoes when the door into his room opened. He looked up to see Kingsley enter the room.

"Are you ready to go Mr. Potter?" asked Kingsley.

"In a moment sir" said Harry. "I just need to tie my shoes." Kingsley saw the young boy's difficulties with the shoelaces.

"Do you need any help with that?" asked Kingsley. Harry nodded a little embarrassed that he could not do it himself. How was he going to save the wizarding world if he had such difficulties tying a shoe? Kingsley went over to harry and showed him how it was done, where after they went to the dining room for breakfast.

Later that morning Harry found himself back in the classroom with professor McGonagall. He was angrily redoing the writing assignment he had done yesterday. Professor McGonagall had looked at it and she had not been impressed with his work. She had told him to do it again. When Harry had protested she had just assigned him more lines to do.

Now he was carefully writing each letter as if he was making a piece of art. He felt like he had worked forever and the task was even more dull than it had been last evening. His thoughts started to drift several times and the professor strictly remind him to focus on his assigned work.

When he finally finished she told him to continue the book he started on yesterday. After a few more hours, professor McGonagall put down the quill and looked up at Harry.

"It's lunch time now. Before your next lesson tomorrow, I want you to write an essay about the importance of doing proper work."

"Yes professor" said Harry even though he had no idea how to write an essay.

* * *

Dumbledore entered Diagon Ally and made his way towards Ollivander's. Once inside the store he walked up to the counter and Ollivander came out from the rom in the back.

"Albus Dumbledore. What brings you here today?"

"I have come to find a wand for Harry Potter," Dumbledore said

"For Harry Potter. Isn't he a bit young for a wand?"

"He is but with a war going on it's never too early to learn to defend yourself"

"I suppose your right. I see you didn't bring the boy."

"No it would be too dangerous for him to come here. I was thinking you could get a selection of wands that could be a possible fit for Harry and I'll take them to him so he can try them."

"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes" Ollivander went out in the back room. A few minutes later, he returned with his hands full of boxes. He handed the boxes to Dumbledore.

"Here you go Dumbledore. I think one of these should fit Harry and if not you can come back and I'll try to find some others."

"Thank you Ollivander. Goodbye"

* * *

After lunch, Dumbledore took Harry into the living room where they had talked yesterday and asked him to take a seat in a couch. Dumbledore himself sat down in a couch on the opposite side.

"So Harry my boy how are you adjusting to your new life?"

"Fine I guess" answers Harry. "I miss my parents though."

"That's only to be expected but if you work hard you won't have time to think about it too much"

"When can I see them?" Harry asked hopefully.

"I don't think any form for contact with your parents at this time would be a good idea. It will only distract you from your training. You have so much to learn and the time is so short."

"Okay" Harry said slightly disappointed.

"This reminds me. I have something for you." This instantly caught Harry's interest. He loved to receive presents. "Since it would be too dangerous for you to go to diagonally to purchase one, I have brought a selection here. I want you to try them and see if one of them fits you."

Dumbledore waved his wand and a huge stack of rectangular boxes appeared on the coffee table in front of them. Dumbledore took one of the boxes and opened it. He took the wand out of it and handed it to Harry.

"Try this one first." Harry waved the wand but nothing happened. Dumbledore quickly took it away from him again and handed a new wand over.

It took a long time to find a wand that fit Harry but finally they succeeded.

"Now that you have a wand we have to establish a few safety rules. You will have to take proper care of it and not lose or brake it. You will also only use it to perform spells your professors have given you permission to use and you will not use it unsupervised. Have I made myself clear?" It would not be good if Harry got himself hurt, playing with magic he could not perform properly.

"Yes sir"

"That's good. Now your first real lesson starts soon. If you will follow me I'll take you right to it." Dumbledore started to walk and Harry hurried after him with a tight grip around his new wand.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a new room. Dumbledore opened the door and Harry entered the room. He looked around and was surprised to see that there was no furniture in the room other than a raised rectangular platform in the middle. The door closed behind him but he did not bother trying to open it since he already knew it was locked.

He walked further into the room and took a closer look at the platform. It looked like one of the dueling platforms he had seen in his picture books at home. Soon after, someone entered the room, and Harry looked at him. He recognized him as Kingsley a man who had escorted him a few times before.

"I see you have gotten a wand," Kingsley said. "During these lessons I'll be teaching you how to use defensive and offensive spells. I think we should start with the shield charm. It's called Protego." Kingsley began to explain more about the spell and he showed Harry how to cast it.

"I want you to practice the wand movements and pronunciation separately a few times before you try casting the spell." Harry practiced for a while and Kingsley made small adjustments to the way he hold his wand.

When Kingsley was satisfied, he told Harry to try combining them. Harry tried but nothing happened. He tried again but still nothing. Harry looked nervously up at Kingsley.

"Relax Mr. Potter. It will take a few tries to get a result. Just keep practicing." Harry did just that. After around ten more tries, a small light started to shoot out of his wand. After fifty tries, he had a small shield in front of him but I vanished after a second or two. It would not be able to protect him from anything. By the time Kingsley dismissed him, he was bathed in sweat and was exhausted.

"I'll take you back to your room so you can shower before dinner. We will continue to practice this spell tomorrow. You did very well for a first try" Harry smiled at the praise he had just received and followed Kingsley.

* * *

Back in his room, Harry showered and put on some clean clothes. Afterwards he sat down at the writing desk and found some parchment, quill and ink. He wanted to start on the assignment professor McGonagall had given him but he did not really know how to start on it. He looked at the parchment for a long time trying to figure out what to write. He had the words in his head put he could not get them down on the parchment. The problem was that he did not know how to spell them. Anyway, he had to try to do it. He did not want to face professor McGonagall tomorrow if he did not have an essay to show.

Finally, he dipped the quill in the ink and carefully wrote the topic as a title on the top of the parchment: " _The inpetant of hart werk._ " It looked wrong. Very wrong. However, he did not know how to fix it so he continued with the essay. He took care to write each letter properly and on a straight line but he could see that the spelling was terrible. After a while, he decided that he was done. He could not do it any better. He left the desk and walked over to the window where he sat down and looked out.

The door opened and Harry turned to see a man he had not seen before enter the room.

"Mr. Potter it is time for dinner. Please follow me."

* * *

After dinner, Dumbledore took him aside again and they entered a library. They walked over to a chessboard and sat down on opposite sides.

"As I told you yesterday one of the classes you will have to take is war strategy. We will start with the topic by playing chess. Have you played before?"

"No sir" said Harry.

Dumbledore began to explain what the individual piece was called, and how they moved around on the board. They began to play the game and every time one of them made a move, Dumbledore explained how to analyze the situation and how to decide on the next move. After some time he made Harry try to analyze the chessboard. Harry found this difficult and he was getting tired but he forced himself to focus on the task he was given.

By the time he went to bed, he was so exhausted from the long day of work that he fell asleep right away.


End file.
